The Arab And Western Spring: The Side
Effects And The Patient's Condition After The Surgical
Process

17 May 2012

By Hamad
Al-Majid

The Arab states that
witnessed revolutions and considerable change, and
even other Arab states that have escaped or withstood
the winds of change in their own style, are all
gripped by a justifiable fear regarding the fate of
such developments, and whether they will lead to
security, economic and political stability, or whether
they will eventually end up with chaos and economic
disorder. Or will they lead to a state of overwhelming
fragility, as is the case with Egypt these days?
Hence, it is natural for the Arab states to consider
the experiences of other countries that have
transformed from complete autocracies to states of
freedom and democracy. This situation is akin to a
family in which one member contracts an illness that
requires major surgery. The entire family then
immediately raises a torrent of questions about other
patients who had similar experiences and sufferings,
and who had to undergo the same surgery. They would
inquire about the nature of the operation, the
percentage of recovery, the side effects and the
patient's condition after the surgical process.

If we look at the
secular states that have transformed from autocracies
into politically and economically free regimes, we
would find that they fall into several categories: in
Latin America, a number of states, in their endeavor
to oust despotism, experienced a state of ebb and flow
whereby the people were only able to draw the breath
of democracy for some time, before tyrants promptly
pounced on the newborn regimes. Then once again, there
were increasing tendencies towards freedom until
matters eventually settled on democratic regimes with
a leftist flavor, both economically and socially.

In Europe, a continent
that acts according to the wishes of the United
States, there were dictatorial states such as
Portugal, Spain and Greece, which had failed to catch
up with the other European states until the early
1970s, when their totalitarian governments were
toppled and replaced with real democracies, without
experiencing the ebb and flow that characterized the
Latin American states.

There are also the
states that were liberated from their affiliation to
what was then the Soviet Union, the mother and
inspirer of all despotic regimes, such as Poland, the
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, the Balkans and so
on. In the 1980s these countries transformed from
deeply-rooted dictatorships into free democracies and
free economies, without regressing back to their old
autocratic conditions.

Similarly, there are
also the countries of East Asia such as the
Philippines, Thailand and Singapore. These states
experiences similar relapses towards autocracy as
happened in Latin America, but certainly to a lesser
degree. In the case of East Asia, it is noteworthy
that the economic conditions of the states involved
did not witness extensive changes after they became
democracies, but the people were content with
breathing in freedom.

The crux of the matter
is that the amount of freedom gained must not be less
than the amount required. This applies to the reality
of the Arab Spring states, for it has been proven that
the people's main priority, along with minimum living
standards, is freedom.

Some of the world's
most autocratic states have also transformed into
democracies. Indeed, some of them are considered the
closest example to the Arab Spring states, because
they share the same religion and they were previously
plagued by underdevelopment, such as Turkey and
Malaysia. Those two countries have transformed in
every way from autocracy to freedom, and from
deplorable economies to booming financial powers.
These two examples are what the Arab Spring states
must aspire to.

Even if the people
experienced a secure lifestyle under autocracy, free
regimes do not necessarily bring about economic or
security chaos, as promoted by the opponents of
democracy. Although the two failed examples of Somalia
and Iraq are still vivid in the memory, and prompt us
to dread change, there are dozens of examples of
countries around the world, including Muslim ones,
that have transformed from autocracies to democracies,
and which continue to enjoy stability.